Asylum seekers sent to Christmas Island

A boatload of asylum seekers intercepted off the Northern Territory coastline will be sent to Christmas Island, but authorities have been unable to locate any trace of another vessel supposedly seen to the east off Arnhem Land.

Customs and Border Protection on Thursday released details of an incident where a boat carrying 78 passengers and two crew was found at sea on Wednesday southwest of Darwin, about 185km from mainland Australia.

Officials were unable to immediately say where the asylum seekers were from.

"Border Protection Command will now make arrangements for the passengers to be transferred to Australian government authorities on Christmas Island," a customs statement said.

"They will undergo initial security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established."

Meanwhile, Customs said a sea and air search for another suspected asylum boat near Maningrida, 500km northeast of Darwin, had turned up nothing on Thursday.

That search was sparked by a caller to ABC radio who said the vessel had been seen close to a nearby island.

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Last week, a boatload of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka arrived in Geraldton in Western Australia.

Labor Senator Trish Crossin recently said asylum seekers had been heading for mainland Australia rather than Christmas Island to try to exploit a legal loophole that meant if they made it to the mainland they could avoid being processed in Nauru or Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.